Tag: recipe

For the Solstice

Summer is here, and with it comes an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables.  Temperatures rise during the day, and the desire for food with heat goes along with it.  Easy to make, fresh, and with pleasant amount of heat, homemade pico de gallo is just the answer!

Pico de Gallo

8-10 fresh medium-sized tomatoes
1 bunch cilantro / coriander
2 limes
2 jalapeno peppers
1 small white onion or 10-15 green onions
pinch salt

Chop up the tomatoes, put into acid-proof bowl with lid. Add the cilantro, plucking the leaves off the stems (takes patience!). Squeeze limes, chop onions fine, and jalapenos. Mix all ingredients; set to mellow at least an hour before serving.

Great with chicken, in burritos, on tacos, in a salad. Vary the heat with the number of jalapenos you use, as well as onion.

Enjoy!

A Dish of Ice Cream

Brrr!  We have had a wet spring here in California, but summer is coming along.  The hills are filled with wild grasses and flowers, clouds roll by, the wind is alternately chilly and warm.

And what more traditional way to greet summer’s approach than with home made ice cream?  Our first ice cream of the season, this year, is coffee.

Give yourself a couple of days to make this.  The first day is to set up the ice cream custard.  We have a Krups ice cream machine, which has a freezer bowl that needs 24 hours before it can be used in the machine.  Our Krups ice cream machine makes a quart at a time.  Of course, your methods may be different than mine!

I cobbled this together from different recipes, but you can do whatever you like!

Coffee Ice Cream

Ingredients

3/4 c. sugar
3 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
3 c. half-and-half
1/2 c. strong coffee
2 T. finely ground coffee

Technique

Beat together in a bowl the eggs and sugar. Beat for 5 minutes. The eggs become light and airy with a pale lemon color. Set aside.

Heat the half-and-half in a 2 quart pan until it is very hot – watch it carefully to avoid scorching. Stir as needed. Turn off heat and set on another burner.

After liquid is very hot, take 1 c. of the hot liquid and rapidly beat it into the egg-sugar mixture. Now take the liquid-egg-sugar mixture and return to remainder of half-and-half. Turn heat back on, to medium low. Stir constantly. Because so much air is incorporated into the eggs and sugar, this liquid will have a quality lighter in texture than a standard egg custard. Continue stirring, occasionally lifting spoon from mixture and allowing some to roll over the back of the spoon. It will have a light coat to it when it is ready. Be careful not to let custard bubble up and boil over.

When custard has cooked (took about 10 minutes), it will still be rather thin. Turn off heat, pour in the coffee and finely ground coffee. Place in container to be refrigerated overnight. Place plastic wrap directly onto surface of coffee custard to prevent skin formation.

Freezing

Stir chilled coffee custard.  Make in ice cream maker per manufacturer’s directions.  Add more ground coffee or other solids during the last 2-3 minutes of the freezing cycle.  Remove from machine, place in airtight container in the freezer for at least two hours before serving.  Eat plain, or with a chocolate cookie!

Jerk Chicken with Lime

If you want something a bit different and spicy, but still easy to make, jerk chicken with lime is perfect.  Boneless, skinless chicken breasts in any quantity are marinated for a few hours to overnight, and then grilled.  You can also use pieces, skin still on, if you prefer. Jerk seasoning can also be used with pork, fish, and shellfish.

Ingredients

  • Chicken
  • 1/2 c. fresh lime juice
  • 2 T. vegetable oil
  • 2 T. brown sugar
  • Spices and herbs, in varying amounts (depending on taste and what you have): ginger, chili powder, garlic, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, thyme, bay.
  • Fresh chopped peppers, such as jalapeno, Scotch bonnet, habanero, for heat.  Note:  be careful in handling the peppers!  Wear gloves and don’t touch your eyes!  Wash your hands and work surfaces ASAP.

Preparation

Place all ingredients into a glass bowl or large baggy to marinate.  Turn to make sure marinade gets to all pieces.  Marinate for at least 2 hours – but the longer, the better, as the flavor soaks in.

Grilling

Cook over medium heat on grill until pieces are done.  You might want to char the outsides a bit in the last few minutes of cooking.

Serving

Accompany the jerk chicken with rice and a fresh salad or vegetables.

A Cold Night’s Soup

Brrr!  Although we are not digging out of miles of snow and ice, the cold snap is hitting us here where I live.  Frost on the windows in the morning and waking to a 55 degree house remind us (a bit!) how other people in other climes live.

Tonight, the idea of a salad left me feeling cold – ugh!  Soup sounded good, so soup for supper it became.  Leftovers and a few vegetables here and there, and this is what we have.

California Cold Night Soup

Olive oil
1 large white onion, chopped fine
3-5 minced cloves fresh garlic
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 zucchini, diced
5 tomatillos, diced
2 cooked chicken breasts, diced
Basil, oregano, ancho chili powder, pepper, salt
1 T tomato paste
1/2 c. Italian parsley, chopped
1 qt. low sodium chicken broth (like from Trader Joe’s)

Add 1-2 T oil to large kettle. Add onions and garlic; saute till it begins to caramelize a bit. Add the vegetables; continue to cook. Add herbs, tomato paste, parsley and chicken. Cook a bit longer, then add chicken broth. Simmer about 20 minutes.

Balance flavor with a bit of lemon juice to taste.

Serve with a garnish of parmesan cheese curls.

Crockpot

Whenever I think of crockpots for cooking, I always imagine there will be a big, soupy mess of overcooked food and soggy vegetables.  Not appealing.

My first crockpot was all one piece, which meant cleaning it was a chore – avoiding total submersion in water to clean off all the scum and debris that dripped out from under the glass lid.  It was also a hideous color and had a cheap feel to it.  The cord was a “safety cord,” so short you had to unplug it to check the mess blurping away inside.

Since then, while the concept has remained the same, construction has improved considerably.  The cooking pot can come out of the heating element.  Well, duh!  It oughta, like this one above, which is very similar to mine.

I always wondered who designed the original crockpot – someone who was cheap?   Someone who had servants who did their bidding?  Someone whose mom or wife did all the cleanup, as a good woman should?  These things were ridiculously poor in design, but clever in concept.  The fact that the pot could not be removed was my big issue.

Since the days of yore, crockpot cookery, also known as slow cooking, has come a long way.  Recipes are not just icky stews, but include all sorts kinds, from soups, to main courses, and desserts.

The other day I found a recipe for Cuban pulled pork, traditionally slow-cooked on the stovetop with citrus.  Someone mentioned they had cooked it all day long on low, in their crockpot, so I decided to do it.  The result was fantastic because all I did was cook the pork, not make an soupy mess to serve for dinner.

Crockpot Pulled Pork (or, What I Did)

Step 1

  • 3-4 lbs. pork tenderloin
  • 1 orange, quartered
  • 1 qt. chicken broth, low sodium
  • 2 large onions, quartered
  • lots of garlic cloves, peeled and left whole (I used about 6)
  • cumin
  • 2 T. peppercorns

Note: Before doing anything, you may want to brown the tenderloin in a pan.  I didn’t, because the crockpot method I looked at did not say to do so; I think it might add to the final flavor.

Pierce tenderloin and place whole garlic cloves inside. Place all ingredients into crockpot. Pour in chicken broth.

Place crockpot on low, cook 6-10 hours.

Step 2

  • 1 onion, finely diced
  • cumin
  • pepper
  • salt
  • chili pepper or other hot pepper powder, flakes

Take pork out of crockpot; pull off any peppercorns. Place into bowl, and using 2 forks, shred meat.

In frying pan, add 1-2 T. olive oil; sautee onion until soft and translucent, or caramelized if you prefer. Set aside in a bowl.

Add more oil to pan.  Add shredded pork; stir fry the meat until it is a bit dry and maybe beginning to brown a bit on the tips of the meat.  Season with suggested spices, or whatever you prefer.  Return sauteed onion to pan, heat a bit more.

Serve with black beans, rice or fried plantains.  We also had some shredded jack-white cheddar, salsa, sour cream, fresh cilantro, and a green salad.  Additionally, we used fresh limes to squeeze over the meat.  It is also good for burritos, tacos, or gussying up with barbecue sauce – but I expect how I would cook it would be a bit differently if barbecued pork was my final goal.